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Boys, girls headed to state tourney

Bradwell’s Jalen Watson hits a shot from the line in the Tigers’ 89-62 rout over the Groves Rebels on Wednesday. Watson was one of three Tigers to hit the double digits in scoring. He chipped in 13 points in the game.

SAVANNAH — Both Bradwell Institute basketball teams earned berths in the state playoffs with Region 3-AAAAA tourney wins this week.The Tiger girls’ basketball team advanced to the second round of the Region 3-AAAAA playoffs with a 55-38 win Tuesday night over Jenkins at Jenkins High School. On Wednesday, the Tiger boys routed Groves High, 89-62, to advance to round two as well.The teams’ second-round matchups are today at Jenkins High School. The Lady Tigers will face Camden County at 4 p.m., while the boys will face Johnson High at 8:30 p.m. Johnson, which beat Benedictine, 89-53, on Wednesday, is undefeated in region play at 18-0 and is 22-4 overall. Bradwell is 14-12 overall and 10-9 in the region. In Tuesday’s game, Shaquoia Crockett scored 20 points to lead the Lady Tigers. Leitia Leiataua added 14 points for Bradwell, which led 29-20 at halftime.Camille Dash led Jenkins with 20 points in her last high school game.The BI girls are 16-9 overall and 12-5 in the region.

Boys’ gameThe Tigers came out on fire, scoring 13 points while keeping the Rebels at five. The Tigers’ defense swarmed over the Rebels but was cautious and patient in picking its steals and not drawing fouls.“They did a great defensive job on keeping Groves off the free-throw line,” Tiger coach Pete Woodard said about his players. “The previous two times we played Groves, free throws kept them in the game. And I knew if we could keep them off the free-throw line, we could have a pretty successful night, and they did not get to shoot a free throw the whole first half.”Offensively, Tigers Dazjon Tinae, Miguel Pineda and Jalen Watson hit the net, giving the Tigers three players scoring in double digits. Tinae paced the boys with 27; Pineda added 26 and Watson chipped in 13.Woodard knew it would be a good match up as the Rebels and Tigers were evenly matched in talent and size. But he said his boys came out to prove a point and definitely proved they wanted the win.“It doesn’t feel good — it feels great,” Woodard said. “It was the kind of game that makes a coach feel proud … Sometimes, they say coaches lose games and players win them. They definitely won this one tonight.”The win ended a postseason drought for the Tiger boys’ program.“It’s been a long time since the Bradwell boys have been in the state playoff games,” Woodard said.